Vice, 2020, 5:26… VICE World News host Zing Tsjeng delves into her own family history to remember that time the British Empire was one of the worst drug pushers in history and got China hooked on opium.
Diversity in the Cannabis Industry
Refinery29, 2019, 8:12… On this episode of Truth Told, we dive into the world of women in the business of weed. With the marijuana industry becoming a booming one in the U.S., what does that mean for those who have been affected by the stigma surrounding it. Press play to uncover the reality of the marijuana industry in America.
Skewed Drinking Statistics
SWATing
Adam Ruins Everything, 2019, 4:35… SWAT teams were invented in the 1960s to deal with hostage situations and prison escapes. Nowadays, these situations only make up 7% of SWAT deployments as most of their time is spent on non-violent drug searches. Two-thirds of SWAT raids do not even result in discovering a weapon and 40% do not find drugs. New York City also estimates that 10% of no-knock SWAT teams bust into the wrong address.
Functions of the Drug Trade
Ozark, 2017, 2:20… In the popular Netflix show Ozark, Marty, played by Jason Bateman, is forced into a life of crime, laundering money for drug lords. His family knows about this and wrestles with the morality of this lifestyle. When Marty's son Jonah goes to school, he’s asked to sign a pledge that he will not use drugs. Jonah confronts the teacher with economic contributions or latent functions that the drug trade has for society.
Sober Curious
Advertising & Alcohol Regulation
USA Today, 2018, 5:43… Millions of Americans will hoist a glass this holiday season. And convincing you to do so is big business! In the US alone, 2 billion dollars is spent on alcohol advertising each year. Perhaps well worth it, as it results in 162 billion dollars in annual alcohol sales. You heard us right, it's not just your in-laws who are driving you to drink.
Modern Urban Policing and Surveillance
Surveillance City -- Vice Media, 2014, 15:00 -- https://youtu.be/fVDvJCeCe54
Here is a frightful manifestation of broken windows policing taken to the extreme. We see a police force largely composed of non-natives to the city set up a panoptical surveillance system in an attempt to combat crime. The city's residents, who were alienated from the decision-making process here, feel as if their community has been invaded by this new police force. Although the crime rate drops slightly, is it worth the social damage to the community?
“Camden, New Jersey is one of the poorest and most drug-ridden cities in the country; its murder rate is 12 times the national average. In 2011, the city cut its police force almost in half, with nearly 80,000 residents regularly being policed by 12 cops at a time. The state stepped in to overhaul the department, introducing an experimental “Metro” security apparatus equipped with futuristic technologies like gunshot detecting, triangulation microphones, and automatic license-plate readers. As similar surveillance systems are implemented across the country, Vikram Gandhi went to Camden to see how these tactics are working, how residents feel about their loss of privacy, and what the future of policing looks like.”
Drug Laws, Xenophobia, and Propaganda
The Sinister Reason Weed is Illegal -- CollegeHumor, 2016, 6:02 -- https://youtu.be/CJlqsdezhhk
From the show Adam Ruins Everything, this video explores the xenophobic origins of US marijuana laws and briefly touches on the political rationale behind the War on Drugs.